Can a person on the wheel chair practice Aikido too?

by Kevin Jones

I think the answer is yes, although you have to work to make it
possible.

I've taught Shin-shin Toitsudo (the ki development exercise part of
our style of Aikido) to people with quite severe disabilities. The
wheel chair is no problem as far as understanding principles goes, but
it does require adaptation to some of the movements in the exercises.

Aikido technique can also be practiced from a wheel chair, or any
other chair for that matter - I had to do this myself for a while when
I couldn't walk when recovering from surgery - but there are some
problems. Some are mundane, like how do you allow the wheelchair onto
the mat without either damaging the surface or running the risk of it
becoming a hazard to other students. Others are more interesting like
how to you get a good movement and correct direction from a person
whose physical mobility is limited in this way. All can be solved.

Depending on the reason for the confinement to a chair, I suggest the
following possibilities:

if the person can get out of the chair and sit in a stable seiza,
then they can practice quite reasonably from this posture doing
technique in a form similar to hanmi-handachi, albeit with no lower
body movement.

place a stable chair on the mat and let the person practice
technique from this chair. This is slightly more difficult than seiza
and uke will have to adjust as necessary but it can be rewarding
practice.

allow the wheelchair onto the mat, probably limiting the area used,
and try the technique from there. This has the advantage of more
mobility and the drawbacks of the chair itself and the lack of a
controlled base in most cases.

Teaching a person in a wheelchair requires some effort but can be done
if one is prepared to adapt. For styles that only teach Aikido-waza
there isn't the same gentle introduction that ki classes allow me to
use, so the initial period might be a little difficult.

There's a gentleman in one of the Berkeley dojos who has MS and is not
only confined to a wheelchair but also has little control of his limbs
in general. He's been practicing for a number of years now and I
believe was awarded shodan. People like this show that most
limitations can be overcome by effort and have my sincere admiration.